Nathan kress personal appearances

1 gb/1000sb, price is negotiable

Hello all! I'm looking to start a new game with my group next month that's maybe only 70% Coriolis rules, with the remaining 30% being tweaks from ALIEN and some homebrew (including the Combat Overhaul and just some personal changes).
My only VTT experience is with Roll20, but I've heard excellent things about Foundy, and so I'm willing to give it a go (and some money) if it can meet my homebrew needs of tweaked Skills, Concepts, Talents, etc.
Is there a YZE "package" that I can just drop into Found, and if so, how flexible can it be for changes? I can see from another recent post (https://www.reddit.com/CoriolisRPG/comments/1ctlqkt/foundry_vtt_coriolis_macros/) that it supports macros, but are these "add ons" or can the appearance and behaviour of core rolls and character sheets be changed natively?
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Thanks in advance for any and all responses.

Hey everyone. So firstly, if you think you already know the answer to this question, please keep reading - the answer may surprise you.
My venture into this rabbit hole started innocuously enough - a friend of mine reached out to me last night, saying "dude, did you know that Volo is actually a human wizard?"
This intuitively did not (and does not) make sense to me - Volo is clearly a bard, if I ever saw one. Something about him being a wizard didn't sit quite right with me. So, I decided to investigate.
A cursory Google search showed most people saying that he is, in fact, a wizard. But most of the top results were from Reddit or other forums, and I wanted something a little more concrete. Which is when I stumbled upon this -
Volothamp Geddarm - Wiki article
Well, that certainly looks like our Volo. And it does indeed say that he's a wizard. So, case closed...right???
Not exactly.
One thing that struck me, is that the Volo in BG3 really does not match the description of the person described in that article. Volothamp Geddarm is described as a very powerful wizard - think like, Elminster levels. So why is he level 3? Why is his persona that of a goofy, trouble-making scamp? Why do we frequently see him play instruments and sing songs, but never cast (or even talk about) spells?
Well - I later on in that Wiki article, I stumbled upon what appears to be the answer. To quote the relevant part:
“"Volo" is not to be confused with "Marcus Volo", real name Marcus Wands, of the Wands family of Waterdeep. A trouble-making bard, Wands gained Volothamp's moniker after he stole an artifact from a powerful wizard, and laid the blame on the far more infamous scapegoat of the real Volo.”
Now, I want you to tell me what's more likely. That the Volo at camp is an all-powerful wizard of great renown? Or that he's a trouble-making bard that frequently lies and exaggerates, and would absolutely not be above stealing the OG Volo's name?
I know what my answer is. I think that the Volo we have at camp is BG3 is not the renowned Volothamp Geddarm wizard at all - but is instead Marcus "Volo" Wands, the notorious troublemaking bard. And I think the evidence is on my side.
BUT - and here's where I need your help, Reddit - I may have evidence, but I don't have definitive, concrete PROOF of anything. I want to know if there's ANYTHING in BG3 - a dialogue option, a cutscene, a super hidden Easter egg - that can confirm beyond any shadow of doubt whether our Volo is the "real" wizard Volo, or if he's notorious bard Marcus Wands?
Given everything we know about BG3 Volo, I feel pretty confident that it's the latter. Be honest - what do you think?
TL;DR - I think BG3 camp Volo is actually the bard "Marcus Wands", rather than the wizard Volothamp Geddarm. I'm looking for concrete evidence that would fully prove (or disprove) this either way. If not, feel free to just speculate. Much love to the BG3 community <3

My wife, Mia, and I were driving cross-country. It was our first attempt at the “Great American Roadtrip.”
Mia and I rented a small RV; more of a camper than a full blown RV. We packed up a couple suitcases with plenty of room for any souvenirs and we hit the dusty trail.
We started our journey on the “Mother Road”-- Route 66-- driving south from Chicago until we connected to i-70 and shot straight west through Missouri.
The goal was to see those parts of the country we had never seen before, stopping anywhere that seemed interesting. From the plains of Kansas up through the badlands of Wyoming and South Dakota.
In Missouri we saw the world’s largest cap gun. In Kansas we visited the Evel Knievel Museum and the World’s Largest Belt Buckle.
We love all those kitschy, tourist trap places.
Eventually, we made it to Colorado and after a few hours more of driving through amber waves of grain, we saw them... the Rocky Mountains.
We made an exit and headed north through the winding mountain highways.
The Rockies were gorgeous. Snow capped in the middle of summer, some of the peaks pierced through the white fluffy clouds.
We saw a sign that read “Traffic Tunnel - 3 Miles.”
A little further and sure enough, there it was, a large tunnel bored directly through the mountain in front of us.
A large sign read, “Pike Tunnel - Longest Traffic Tunnel in the Nation! - Please turn your headlights on now.”
“How long is it?” asked Mia.
“That’s what she said,” I quipped.
But she was right, there was no information beyond the detail that this was the longest tunnel in the nation.
“Can’t be more than a mile or two,” I said as I watched the little white car ahead of us slip into the darkness. A moment later we joined it.
The tunnel was lit by fluorescents that gave everything a greenish yellow tinge. On the left hand side was a raised walkway behind a railing for maintenance access.
Initially I was struck by the incredible amount of work that went into the construction of this man- made marvel.
“We’re under a million tons of rocky mountain right now,” I said.
“How many years before this caves in?” Mia responded.
I shot her a look--
“Let’s save the cave-in talk until we’re out on the other side.”
“I’m just saying, nature will take this back eventually,” she continued.
I scanned the empty road ahead of us.
“Where did the other car go?” I asked.
We were now alone in the tunnel, no cars ahead of us nor behind us.
“Huh... they must have sped off ahead. Maybe they’re scared of a cave-in?”
My Spotify playlist had stopped playing. Mia looked at the phone.
“No cell service.”
She turned on the radio and spun the dial only to find static.
“You’re not going to be able to pick up a station in here,” I said.
She turned the volume down.
“Just wanted to check... If only we had some CDs. This tunnel really keeps going.”
“I would have thought we’d be through it by now,” I replied.
I looked at the RV’s odometer, 45,600 miles. I picked up speed. I wanted to try and catch up to the little white car.
Up until this point, the tunnel was a straight shot, but now the tunnel started to curve to the right. It may have been my imagination but it also felt as though we were descending…
Mia felt it too and she started to get antsy.
“Where did that other car go? How long is this tunnel?”
There was an urgency in her voice.
I was getting nervous, claustrophobia was not usually a problem for me but when I looked down at the odometer and I saw that it had gone up by 3 miles, my mind began to wander to unsettling places.
We were descending in altitude. I could feel it. I could see a slope in the lights on the ceiling and the railing of the maintenance walkway. I could feel a pressure in my head, and I was getting cold.
“Could you grab me a coke from the back, Mia?”
I couldn’t have Mia getting anxious, that would only start a chain reaction and make me freak out which would then make her freak out.
She unbuckled and ducked into the back of the RV to where we had a cooler stocked with drinks and food.
Just as she stepped into the back, I saw something.
There standing on the side of the road was a MAN wearing a reflective safety vest and a hard hat. He was WAVING to me as I passed him by.
Something about him looked... strange…
I watched him in the side-view mirror as we passed and he was still watching the RV, still waving at the back of our vehicle as he faded into the distance.
Mia reappeared from the back of the RV, Coke in hand. She popped it and handed it to me.
“You look worried.”
“I’m fine,” I smiled and took a sip of the Coke.
“Eric, slow down!”
I slammed on the breaks as I saw what made Mia scream. In the road in front of us was a roadblock.
Two reflective traffic sawhorses blocked both lanes of the tunnel. Beyond the roadblock, the lights of the tunnel were dark. There was nothing but a void of blackness.
Standing in front of the roadblock was another man wearing a reflective vest and a hard hat, only this time his hard hat had a light on top which obscured his face.
We came to a jolting stop.
I turned to Mia
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” she replied. “It’s a cave-in isn’t it?”
“God, I hope not.”
I rolled down the window, leaned out and yelled to the man in the hard hat.
“Hey! What’s going on?!”
The man was about 5 yards away. He took two steps towards us and then raised a hand to his mouth and yelled.
“Just doing some maintenance!”
“How long is it going to take?!” I yelled back.
The man made a hand gesture as if he didn’t hear me.
“How long is it going to take?!” I called again.
He made the same gesture. I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed the door release.
“What are you doing?” Mia asked.
“I gotta know what’s going on.”
“Eric, just stay here, it might not be safe.”
“I’ll be just a second,” I said.
I pushed the door open and stepped down from the RV.
“Stay in your vehicle!” the man yelled.
He took a couple steps towards me with his hand out telling me to stop.
“What’s the hold up?!” I shouted.
The man was a bit closer now but I still couldn’t see his face through the shining light on his helmet.
“Please stay in your vehicle!” he shouted.
There was something off about him.
Then I heard it–
“EEEAAAUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH!!!”
A scream, or something, rolled from deep in the tunnel. The worker turned and looked into the darkness. Then he ran past the barricades and soon all we could see of him was the light on his helmet.
The light disappeared a moment later.
“What the hell was that?! Is someone hurt?” Mia asked.
“I have no idea,” I said.
“Should we do something?” Mia asked.
I just sat there and watched the pitch black tunnel in front of me. I had no idea what to tell her. I checked the sideview mirrors. There was still nobody behind us.
“Where are the other cars?” I asked.
“They must have gotten through before the roadblock... Or maybe they caused the roadblock?” Mia replied.
“I saw another worker a little ways back. We could try to go back and talk to him.”
“We’d be going straight into any oncoming cars.”
“There’s a maintenance walkway. We didn’t pass him that long ago. We can probably catch him on foot.”
“Maybe we should just wait for the guy to come back.”
She reached over and grabbed my arm. I squeezed her hand.
She was right.
I looked out at the tunnel ahead of us. I turned on the RV’s high beams but all I could see beyond the roadblock was more tunnel and more road.
I checked my phone. Unsurprisingly, there was no service still.
We waited, but the man never came back.
“It’s been twenty minutes,” Mia said, “How come there hasn’t been another car behind us?
I was having the same thought. I rolled down my window and stuck my head out. I looked back at the road behind us. It went back about 200 yards before curving out of sight.
There was no sign of that first worker I saw on the maintenance walk way. I looked at the roadblock ahead of us and clicked on the RV’s high beams. There was nothing beyond the roadblock but more tunnel. It didn’t look like it was under construction, just very dark.
“I think we should keep going,” I said.
“What about the roadblock?”
“We’ll move those sawhorses out of the way and just drive past,” I said as I opened my door.
Mia looked at me, then she cast her eyes to the dark tunnel ahead of us. I knew she was processing the same limited options that I was.
Driving backwards would be a huge risk in the instance of another car finally coming along.
Getting out and walking would take God knows how long, we could have driven 10 miles at this point.
Forward was our best option.
“Let’s do it,” Mia said.
We jumped out and quickly pulled the two sawhorses out of the right lane. I pulled the RV up past the barriers, then we jumped out again and put the sawhorses back where they were. We didn't need another car to come barreling through.
We were finally moving again, slowly. It was pitch black save for the high beams of the RV.
We crept forward at around 15 miles per hour. As the tunnel turned and twisted, my eyes started to play tricks on me. I kept seeing shapes at the furthest point of the tunnel.
I kept seeing something standing just at the end of the next bend but as we roll forward, there was nothing there.
“Where are the workers?” Mia asked.
“I don’t know.”
I was done rationalizing. This was all wrong. Traffic tunnels are never this long.
My mind started to wander to all the road trip urban legends I’d read about; The Killer in the Backseat, The Disappearing Gas Station, The Pale Man In The Corn Field.
Did we stumble into some strange outlier location? An in-between point on the endless roads that cross this country?
Then I saw it–
“Look! A person! Thank god!” Mia shouted.
As we rounded a curve in the tunnel, a group of maintenance workers entered our view.
The three of them stood on the left side of the road behind two more sawhorses topped with flashing lights.
Two of them faced towards us, the third was facing the other two.
The one with his back to us wore a light on his hard hat. Was this the same guy we saw earlier? How did he get this far away?
I approached slowly and rolled down the window.
“Hey! You left us waiting back there!” I yelled.
There was no response.
In fact, all three men were completely silent, and it was hard to tell in the flashing light of the sawhorses, but they looked to be standing COMPLETELY STILL.
“Hello?!” I yelled again.
I pushed open my door and stepped out onto the pavement.
“Eric wait--”
I held up a finger to Mia.
“Just a second.”
I slowly stepped towards the 3 men.
“Hello?”
No response… What the fuck?
The bright lights of the sawhorses obscured their faces.
I kept moving closer.
“Hey, what’s going on--”
Then I saw it.
Their faces... They were plastic.
In front of me stood three mannequins.
I backed away toward the RV, then I turned and walked hurriedly to the vehicle.
I was seriously freaked out but I didn’t want to alarm Mia. I climbed into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut.
“They’re mannequins.” I said.
“What?”
“They’re mannequins.”
”Why?... What?...”
“I don’t know…”
I looked back over at the three figures and my blood ran cold…
The Hard Hat Mannequin had somehow TURNED AROUND to face us. All three figures appeared to be watching us now.
Then we heard it--
A loud resonant banging on the side, and then the roof of the RV.
“What the hell was that?” Mia whispered.
We listened, holding our breath. Then--
A shuffling sound--
Something was moving ON or IN the RV.
“Stay here.” I said.
I got up.
“Eric, wait!”
I moved to the back of the RV.
It was dark. I went for a drawer in the kitchenette space and pulled out a flashlight.
I moved to the rear of the RV, the bedroom. My flashlight illuminated an empty room.
“Whoever is back here, I have a gun…”
A shitty bluff. But I didn’t see anything.
I shone the light out of the windows of each side of the RV. Nothing.
Then I heard it–
A shuffling sound, from right above me.
I looked up and screamed–
“Fuck!”
On the roof of the RV, staring through the skylight was a woman with vacuous black eyes and a dead smile.
Her stringy black hair dangled down towards me casting thing black shadows across her horrible pale face.
“Mia, drive! Fast!” I screamed.
Mia JUMPED over to the driver’s seat, shifted into gear and STOMPED on the gas. The RV was clunky but it could move when it needed to.
We lurched forward and I fell back.
I trained my flashlight up onto the skylight again and the woman was gone.
I scrambled to my feet and looked out of the side windows.
Did Mia shake her off? There was no sign of the woman. I moved to the passenger seat, breathing heavily and sweating.
“What happened?” She asked, keeping the RV at a steady 50 mph.
“There was a woman on the roof,” I said flatly.
I realize now that I was in a kind of shock.
“A woman?”
“Her eyes were black.”
Mia just looked at me, then back at the tunnel ahead of us.
“There’s something wrong with this tunnel.” I whispered.
Mia pointed at the road ahead, “Look.”
I looked out at the tunnel. There were more mannequins. A LOT more mannequins. They were positioned on both sides of the road.
They were all facing us and even though I never saw them move, when I looked in the side-view mirror, they were somehow STILL facing us, turning to watch us as we drove past. Watching without eyes.
“Just keep driving.” I said.
As we drove on, the mannequins crowded the sides of the road more and more. There were thousands of them. Eventually they were so close that some of their outstretched arms hit the side of the RV.
They were closing in on us. Squeezing our path forward. One stood in the middle of the road.
“I don’t think i can get around it.”
“Run it over. Don’t stop.”
The RV smashed into the mannequin. Its head shot forward and bounced against the windshield and the vehicle shuddered as it rolled over the body.
Soon there were two in the road. Then three.
I could see where this was going. Pretty soon there would be too many for the RV to ram through, but goddammit we were going to get through as many as we could.
“Speed up, Mia.”
CRASH!
The sound was surreal, smashing into mannequin after mannequin at nearly 60 miles per hour.
Hands, legs, heads and torsos flew.
The windshield cracked, the RV shuddered and screamed and eventually slowed down, despite the screaming engine.
I’m certain the axle was jammed up with lifeless, plastic body parts. Eventually we came to a stop.
“She won’t move,” Mia said.
She pressed on the gas but it was no use, the RV just rocked a little bit.
“Try reverse.”
She shifted and pressed on the gas, we got some decent movement before running into another jam.
“Fuck.”
“Should we get out and look?” Mia asked.
“I’ll go,” I said as I grabbed the flashlight and popped the passenger door. Mia unbuckled her seatbelt.
“We’ll go together.”
We stumbled out of the RV on the passenger side. It was like stepping into Hell.
Countless, lifeless faces stared out at us from the darkness. The only light came from the headlights of the RV and my flashlight.
We clumsily made our way along the side of the RV. The ground was littered with mannequin pieces.
I thought to myself, if we could get a couple yards cleared out behind the rear tires, we might be able to back out and get enough momentum to reverse all the way back out of here.
Instead, when we got to the back of the RV, my stomach flipped and my heart sank.
I was expecting to see a trail of flattened mannequins, instead the RV was now surrounded by thousands of perfectly intact mannequins standing at attention. As if their ranks had some how been replenished after our vehicular assault.
“This is impossible.”
She started to cry. I held her close.
“We’ll keep moving.” I said.
“It will never end. The tunnel makes no sense. It only curves one direction.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“This whole time the tunnel has only been curving to the right. it would sometimes straighten out or go left for a few yards but before too long we were curving to the right again. We’ve either been driving in circles or spiraling downwards.”
“So we’ll go back the way we came and hope we’re not going in circles.” I said.
We had been driving for hours at this point. Walking back out the way we came would take days. But now that I thought about it, Mia was right, we’d only been curving to the right.
This tunnel seemed to be very gradually taking us downwards into the earth.
Going forward would not get us any closer to escape.
“We’ll need food from the RV,” Mia said.
I nodded and we stumbled our way back to the front of the RV, the mannequins’ lifeless faces watching us the whole time.
I stepped up to the passenger door and nearly fell back when I looked through the window.
“What the fuck?” I breathed.
What I saw were two mannequins sitting in the driver’s and passenger’s seat.
How they got in there? I have no idea, but what really made my blood run cold was that they were dressed EXACTLY like MIA and I.
They wore identical sets of clothes. The one in the passenger seat had my same New Order T-shirt and black jeans. The one in the driver’s seat had Mia’s green striped sweater and denim shorts.
Their plastic faces stared out through the shattered windshield at the endless crowd of mannequins staring back at them.
Mia stepped up and saw the uncanny display.
“What the fuck?” Mia echoed.
I pulled myself up into the RV and slowly stepped around my mannequin doppelgänger. I avoided looking into its face but I swear i could feel it watching me as I stumbled around it.
Mia followed and we made our way into the back of our dark RV. Luckily we had just stocked our cooler full of deli meat and water not long after crossing the Colorado state line.
I handed Mia the flashlight and pulled open the cooler. I filled a backpack full of food and water.
I turned and saw them–
My mannequin double had somehow moved. It was standing in the aisle watching us.
Mia’s doppelgänger was still seated in the driver’s seat but had turned to peer back at us with its eyeless gaze.
Mia saw the look in my eyes and turned. She screamed when she saw them and backed into me. I put my arm around her and we stood there a moment, letting our skyrocketing heart rates return to Earth.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
I slid the backpack onto my shoulders.
Mia joined me at the door. I looked into her eyes. “Are you ready?” She nodded. I kissed her.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you,” she said.
The look on her face killed me. She was terrified. I’m sure the look on my face was similar.
I opened the door and we stepped out…
We again stumbled to the back of the RV. Once we were clear of the RV and all the crushed mannequin body parts, it became easier to find footing, though weaving through an endless crowd of lifeless people was a slow process.
It was pitch black. Without the flashlight we wouldn’t be able to see a foot in front of us.
As I walked, the beam of light created the illusion of movement in the crowd. At least I hoped it was an illusion.
The limbs of the mannequins seemed to stretch and turn, but the only sound was that of Mia and I shuffling our way through the crowded tunnel.
Things went on like this for what felt like hours. Mia and I were sweating and aching. I was about to suggest we stop and rest, but then I saw it and I froze…
Out in the crowd, beyond rows of blank faces I saw a pale face, black hair and a dead smile.
I saw two vacuous eyes staring right at me.
“Mia, do you see her?” I whispered.
“See who?”
I slowly raised my arm and pointed.
It was the woman, or whatever it was, that stared back at me through the skylight on the roof of the RV.
“Oh my god!” Mia squeaked.
I could see now that the Pale Faced Woman was tall. A few inches taller than the mannequins.
As I pointed, she stared back at me with that terrible grin.
“What do we do?” Mia whispered.
I raised the flashlight and pointed it right at the Pale Faced Woman. I thought maybe this would scare her off.
I was wrong.
The light only made her appear more unsettling as she stared back, unflinchingly.
“What do you want?!” I yelled.
She only stared back at me. She was as still as the mannequins.
“We have to keep going.” I whispered.
Mia didn’t respond. Her body was tense as she held onto me.
“We’ve come this far, we can’t turn back again,” I continued.
I pulled Mia’s hand and we continued on our way through the mannequins, keeping the distance between us and her as wide as possible.
As we moved past, she kept watching us. Though her movements were imperceptible to us, her eyes never left us. Like one of those portraits whose eyes appear to watch you no matter where you stand.
Finally, we got far enough that she was out of sight. But the thought of her being somewhere behind us only unsettled me further and I quickened our pace.
As the hours wore on, there was no sign of the Pale Faced Woman and the crowd of mannequins began to thin out. They still populated the tunnel from one end to the other, but there was more space between them, allowing Mia and I to walk more freely.
The mannequins on the maintenance walkway on the side of the tunnel seemed to thin out as well and I decided it would give us a better vantage if we were walking up there.
I helped Mia climb up the railing that bordered the walkway, then I climbed up behind her. The walkway was elevated 3 or 4 feet above the roadway. We could easily see over the heads of the mannequins in both directions.
There was, of course, no end to the tunnel in sight.
We kept walking.
The mannequins continued to thin out, but they were different now.
There were mannequins dressed as maintenance workers again, but also mannequins dressed as families and businessmen. There was even a group of mannequin nuns standing in a single file line, heads bowed in prayer.
Needless to say, we passed none of this on the way in to the tunnel. I was feeling very hopeless that we were going to be able to find our way out.
I was far beyond speculating how this was at all possible. It’s NOT possible. And even if it were, there is no good reason for someone to do this to us.
The only explanation was the supernatural. Then I saw Her. Rather, I saw THEM.
Arranged in the middle of the tunnel was a circle of mannequins with long black hair and tattered cloth.
They looked exactly like the Pale Faced Woman, minus any facial features. I kept a close watch on them as we passed to make sure they didn’t start following us.
“A door!” Mia shouted.
Mia pointed a few paces ahead of her. There was a door leading into the wall of the tunnel.
We ran towards it. Mia grabbed the handle, turned it and pulled. It was heavy and Mia had to brace her foot on the wall to get it moving.
The metal door groaned as if it hadn’t been opened in years.
Finally, it was open enough to see past.
It was a hallway. It went out about 5 yards then turned right at a 90 degree angle.
The strangest part was the design of the hallway.
It wasn’t cement or pavement like the tunnel.
The walls were wood paneled and the floor was covered in a thick carpet, like a house from the 1970s.
“I say we see where this takes us.” Mia said.
There was no reason to disagree, but I wasn’t going to get us trapped in there.
I opened up my backpack and took out a water bottle. I opened it and handed it to Mia. She drank half, then I drank the other half.
I slowly closed the door, shoving the empty water bottle in the crack to keep it from closing all the way.
I turned to Mia-- “Okay, let’s go.”
We slowly made our way down the quiet hallway. We got down to where the hallway cornered to the right and that’s when we heard it–
KA-CHUNK!!!--
I whipped around. The door had closed behind us. I ran back to it and tried to push it open, but it was no use. There was no way it closed on its own.
Someone had to have removed the water bottle. Our path had been chosen for us.
There was no turning back.
We continued down the hallway. We turned right. The hallway continued, then turned right again. That should have led us right back to the tunnel. But it didn’t. This part of the hallway went on far longer than was possible without running into the tunnel. Then it turned right again.
It went on like this. Sometimes a section of the hallway was 20 feet long, sometimes it was 20 yards long, sometimes it was 3 feet long. But it always turned to the right.
At first it was a relief to be somewhere other than the cold, dark tunnel. But the hallway very quickly became claustrophobic and before too long, I heard someone walking behind us.
We had stopped to take a break and I heard a third pair of footsteps on the carpet coming from behind us. I backtracked to the last corner.
I was terrified as I slowly peeked around the corner, tense and waiting to see the vacuous eyes and inky black hair of the Pale Faced Woman... but there was nothing there. I wasn’t about to backtrack any further.
“There was no one there.” I whispered.
Mia slumped against the wall and slid down to the carpet.
“I think I need to rest.” She said.
I put my backpack down on the ground for Mia to use as a pillow. She laid her head down and was passed out in seconds.
I had no idea how long we had been walking at this point. I stood leaning against the wall. My body was telling me to rest but I couldn’t risk falling asleep. I had to keep watch. I knew SHE was following us.
I took in the details of the hallway for the first time. The carpet was a dull brown and the walls a cheap wood paneling. The hanging lighting fixtures were shaded by stained glass, something you might see in an old diner.
Who built this place? Did someone pick out the carpet and the lighting fixtures? Did a team of workers blast these tunnels into the Earth? Or has this place always existed? Was this Purgatory?
I began to feel dizzy. I was panicking. My heart felt like it was trying to escape my chest. I slumped to the floor and tried to slow my breathing.
I closed my eyes... –
I SHOT up in a panic. I had fallen asleep while I was meant to be keeping watch.
I snapped to my feet and looked around.
Mia was still asleep on my backpack.
Then I noticed that the hallway had changed. A few paces away there was now a plain wooden door in the wall.
I slowly approached it. I put my ear to the door and I could hear what sounded like TV static and the low murmur of voices.
I discreetly grabbed the door handle and turned it slowly. I felt the latch bolt clear and I carefully cracked the door just enough to peek inside.
It was dark, so it took a second for me to register what I was seeing. I saw a small board room. A long table in the center was surrounded by seated men in suits.
At the end of the table stood another man next to an old CRT TV that was playing static. This was the only source of light in the room and all the men around the table were turned towards the tv.
Suddenly the screen flickered from static to a solid dark background. And some warped new age style muzak began playing.
Then the words appeared on the screen that terrified me like nothing else before. In plain text the words read–
“YOU WILL LOSE HER.”
I froze as I knew these words were meant for me I watched with terror as the men seated around the table slowly turned toward me in unison.
They were mannequins.
The TV screen then clicked off and they continued staring at me as I could barely make out their forms through the near pitch darkness.
I quickly pulled the door shut. And whipped around to look at Mia, I had a horrible feeling of dread that when I turned around she would be gone, like the message on the TV promised–
“Eric? What are you doing?” Mia was leaning up and staring at me.
Thank God. There was Mia, right where I left her.
I pointed at the door and said, “This door appeared and I--”
“What door?” she interrupted.
I turned and sure enough, the door was now gone.
I explained what happened to her, but I left out the message that appeared on the screen.
-- YOU WILL LOSE HER –
Those words still burned in my brain. I tried to force them out.
We drank water, ate granola and then got moving again.
Hallways. Endless hallways.
After a couple hours of walking we started to hear music. There were small speakers in the corners of the ceiling.
I recognized it as the same new-age muzak that played on the TV in the board room. The melody drilled into our minds. Combined with the dull aesthetics of the quiet hallways and the endless right turns, the music had a hypnotizing effect.
The lengths of the halls became more uniform. That is to say, the straight section of hallway was about 7 paces, then a right turn, then 7 paces and a right turn.
“I think we’re walking in circles... or a square,” Mia said.
I looked at her and took out a bottle of water. I peeled off the plastic label and dropped it on the floor.
Then we kept walking.
7 paces, right turn. 7 paces, right turn. 7 paces, right turn. And there it was... Mia was right.
The label from my water bottle lay in the middle of the hallway. Somehow we had been led into a loop. I lost it.
“FUUUCK!”
I kicked the wall repeatedly and screamed. Mia just leaned her back against the wall.
This was our dynamic. If one of us lost it, the other became zen and thought of a solution. More often than not, I was the one to lose it.
I finally stopped freaking out
“There has to be a way out. A door,” Mia said.
“We would have seen it,” I replied.
“A hidden door,” she said.
She turned around and ran her hands along the cracks of the wood paneling.
“Most likely on the outer wall,” she said.
She beat her fist on the wall, listening for a change in the sound. I exhaled heavily, sweating and tired, and I started searching the wall as well.
We checked the whole first wall, nothing. We checked the second wall, nothing. The third, nothing.
The final wall... Nothing. I gave up and slumped on the floor. Mia immediately went over to the other side of the hall and started checking the inner wall.
“What are you doing? I thought you said it would be on the outer wall?” I asked.
Then we heard it.
Mia beat the wall and instead of the dead thud, we heard a resonate BOOM –
A door…
I shot up and started tapping the wall with Mia until we found where the door ended. It was the width of about 4 wooden panels. I lined myself up in the center, lowered my shoulder and pushed–
IT MOVED! It barely moved but it was enough to confirm this actually was a door! I re-centered and tried again, lowering my center of gravity, I pushed as hard as I could. The door pushed inward about 3 inches, then Mia joined in. We slowly moved the door, 5 inches, then 10, then 15, then 20.
Then Mia slipped inside.
I had a moment of panic as she disappeared into the darkness and those haunting words came back into my mind, “YOU WILL LOSE HER.”
I darted past the doorway, falling through the threshold and hitting the concrete floor.
I looked up and there was Mia, thank God. I promised myself I’d never let her out of my sight again.
“The exit...” Mia said.
She looked and sounded as if she were a thousand miles away. I got to my feet and followed her gaze. What I saw nearly brought me to tears.
We were back in the tunnel, but there was light. About a mile down was the mouth of the tunnel, and daylight pouring in. Beautiful daylight. I grabbed Mia tight and kissed her.
“Thank God...” she cried.
We started moving. Nothing was going to slow us down this time. We sped up into a RUN down the maintenance walkway towards that beautiful sunlight.
As we approached, something else came into view. Parked in the middle of the roadway was a large vehicle…
It couldn’t be…
It was!
Our RV sat in the road waiting for us. We ran all the way to it, pulled open the passenger side door and climbed in. There were no mannequins to be seen.
I fell into the driver’s seat and Mia handed me the keys. I turned over the engine, the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. I shifted into gear and floored it towards the sunlight.
As we got closer, I could see the green of trees and the blue of the sky. We were maybe one hundred yards away.
I turned to Mia, tears in my eyes…
And what I saw turned my blood to ice.
Just beyond Mia’s window, that horrifying pale face grinned at me.
The Pale Faced Woman was somehow floating outside of the RV.
Before I could say anything, her hand smashed through the window and gripped Mia by the throat, then in one horrible motion the thing PULLED MIA SCREAMING THROUGH THE WINDOW AND…
Disappeared…
I SLAMMED on the breaks just as the RV passed through the exit of the tunnel and sunlight flooded the cab of the RV. I threw it in park and shot out of the door screaming.
“Mia!? Mia??!!”
I screamed over and over. I rounded the front of the RV and looked back at the tunnel –
-- and what I saw shattered my mind…
The tunnel was gone.
There was only open road.
I had lost her.

MAIN CLAIM: The entire concept of racism is irrelevant, and discussing it from whichever standpoint will lead to nothing.
REASONS:

1. Beliefs ≠ Actions — An individual has the right to make any sort of conclusions towards anything, since we're all equal, no one can claim moral superiority or enlightenment. With that said, actions that can result from racist beliefs are NOT unethical BECAUSE of racism but INDEPENDENTLY from it. EX: Murder (It's not racism that makes murder unethical), insults (it's not racism that makes offensive speech unethical), discrimination (It's not racism that makes treating another as inferior that makes that act itself unethical).
   
2. The notion of racism necessarily implies the existence of race — When anti-racist people speak out against racism, they do so refuting the core notion that "there are no superior races", this will lead to no results since it leads to it being a matter of difference of information and experience (Racists have, in their heads, good and tangible reasons to be racists that can be pointed out). HOWEVER, the rebuttal of this core notion has a VALIDATING effect for racists because it makes their main assumption that race exists LEGITIMATE. Since it's not that assumption that is being tackled the racist will comfortably believe that if the anti-racist had been through similar experiences they'd understand why a certain race is inferior. Meanwhile, if the concept of race was refuted as a whole, there'd be no space for those conclusions. One thing to be considered is that the existence of the race DOES necessarily imply superior and inferior (EX: if there are races, then there are groups that are genetically different, which means that they will necessarily have different IQs, one higher, one lower), at most it can be argued that this superiority and inferiority is context-dependant, but this does not matter for the racist who WILL use the info in those exact contexts.
   
3. Anti-racism oftentimes further propagates racism — A quick example is enough. When new movies, or other forms of media, come out featuring black individuals in prominent roles, many ardent anti-racists start dissecting the traits and plot points attributed to these black characters, to make sure there is no racism. This has a dehumanizing effect since it necessarily implies that are certain actions/behaviors/plot points that can ONLY happen to blacks if a racist screenwriter decides so. With anti-racism, the focus is constantly on race, taking the individual out of the equation and judging him solely through a racial viewpoint. I was watching a video by Metatron where he reacts to a video by an historian analysing a scene from the movie 300, the historian states that it is ableist for a deformed character to be represented as deceitful and a traitor. This is not about race but is a similar enough theme. What happens here is that the experience of the deformed character is completely dismissed (they have reasons to be deceitful) and its free-will completely ignored because the focus is on its appearance and body by the very people who criticise it. It's also implying that deformed people cannot be traitors. Why wouldn't they? If we're all the same?
   
4. It has an ostracising effect — Very often people forget that racists have REASONS to be racist. If they have had a disproportionate amount of bad experiences with people of a certain race, it's NATURAL to adapt to this experience with misguided conclusions. The same way that, on a larger scale, women can develop a generalised fear of men due to sexual harassment. When morality is brought to the topic, it further separates and alienates racists by DISMISSING THEIR EXPERIENCE. This is wrong because it's demanding that people be more rational than they are capable of on their own and invalidating their fears and natural adaptations, and all of this because people either seek the moral highground, want to virtue signal, or are lazy in actually tackling racist issues. No conflict will EVER be solved by further alienating someone by attributing to them immoral qualities. No one is born immoral, everyone is malleable. But treating them as monsters most certainly ensures they'll remain monsters. It is extremely counter-productive to alienate racists, as if one could solve problems of discrimination by preaching to those that are already converted. Needless to say, any actions need to be punished or rewarded accordingly, regardless of the person behind them.
   
5. It doesn't tackle the core issues — It happens INSANELY often that people reject actual facts about reality in order to avoid racism and bigotry. Using as an example the 13/50 statistic. This statistic IS real. People immediately want to hide or quickly "disprove" it away because of its danger, but again, this is counter-productive and lazy. If a racist sees this statistical fact, and sees that anti-racists delusionally reject it, his view WILL BE LEGITIMISED. Applying a moral layer to a matter of INFORMATION is a terrible, terrible idea. No one is immoral for trying to understand a statistic, but if they are treated as such, they will be such.
   

MY PROPOSED ALTERNATIVES:

1. The experience of racists should be openly validated, tackled and EXPLAINED. Carefully demonstrating what the 13/50 means for racists has, potentially, very positive effects. Not only could such an explanation, if done effectively, be enough to stop it from being used for racists conclusions, it could have the complete opposite effect and make racists more aware of the experience of blacks from the perspective of economical and societal issues (of which human GREED is the main source). This should be done WITHOUT any morality involved. It takes work, strength, courage, knowledge and reasoning, so of course it is harder than merely preaching, but it is the only thing that can work. It requires open-minded, detached and precise counter-arguments for the exact things racists say, instead of generalised moralistic statements or attempts and censoring.
2. There should be a wider spread of GENUINE black role models and positive actions, as well as history. This has, in my opinion, never be started and has had a counter-productive effect since what media has done is take away stories from caucasians, for example, and trade those with blacks, as well as constantly trying to force formulaic and generic examples of black strength that have no effect because they aren't true (EX: Wakanda). Whites have little access to true and inspiring stories from other cultures. A movie like "the boy who harnessed the wind", for example, which tells a real and authentic story about an african family, has 10000x more power than the modern "ACCEPT THAT OTHER RACES ARE GOOD AND YOU'RE A DEMONIC WHITE" media.
3. Make an actual effort to finally NOT SEE COLOR, which used to be the main goal. Even if others do see color, if you try to tackle it from their perspective, you won't win. Offer a different perspective, an alternative worldview, and don't challenge theirs. No one is special.

Do you always trust what the emotions and quality of eyes tell you? Late last year I made a long distance friend who is also an INFJ whose face I've only seen in pictures. We have a lovely connection and we treat each other well. But it's all online and phone calls. The more we bond, the more I get anxious because of my past choices which involved my compassion getting in the way of my intuition. Today I looked closer at recent and past pictures of them on social media and a few made me wonder if the person is safe for me. I know sometimes my eyes appear a certain questionable way, but the eyes in one of their photos from years ago downright made me go woah in a not good way. Some recent pictures make me 🤨 Even so, people are at different stages of healing and growing. But because of reasons I probably need therapy for, I have so much trouble knowing if my concerns are valid or if I'm only scared to have something healthy and relatively unknown, and my brain is just lying about what I see. Otherwise they have given green flags, but I don't Know. Please help me process this.

Source: 🔗 Chat with Lifelike Virtual Personalities — talkiemate.com
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In conclusion, the best free personalized virtual assistant for you ultimately depends on your specific needs and preferences. Whether you prioritize user-friendliness, customization options, or task management capabilities, there’s a virtual assistant out there to suit your requirements. Be sure to explore each option thoroughly to find the perfect companion to help you navigate through the digital world seamlessly.

I’ve seen nobody talking about this and I thought I’d share it here to see what people think.
I watched through Jarilo-VI story the other day, and at the end, when MC has the “dream” about Sampo, Sampo’s last lines are: “…and to you, dear viewer, I’ll see you next time.” We know that Sampo used to be, and is now once again, a Masked Fool, as seen in Black Swans Penacony side-quest, and that lot is tricky to say the least.
Not only does the “my dear viewer” part imply that he knows he’s in a fictional universe - as there has not yet been an explanation to that and that makes the most sense to me - but that could be related to the fact that he’s a masked fool, as him and Sparkle are the only masked fools other than Aha (but he doesn’t really count imo) that we know of.
Next, “see you next time”? What does he mean by that? Think, what happens at the end-ish of Belebog? MC gets a new path. When do we next see Sampo? Penacony. What happens in Penacony? MC gets another new path. Sampo knows when it’s going to happen, he’s even put at the top of the “Special Appearances” (I believe) list in the credits for Penacony.
Something else not enough people have been talking about, the person who Sampo was talking to over “FaceTime” or whatever it’s called there. Who was it? It can’t be Sparkle, because she was surprised that Sampo came back to be a Masked Fool, so that leaves me with two plausible explanations that I just now came up with.
Option One, he was talking to Aha.
The Aeon of Elation, as he is the masked fool guy. This implies that Sampo doesn’t actually follow the path of Nihility, like his character, or Preservation, like Belebog does, but Elation. But why would a random thief have the privilege of talking to the Aeon of Elation?
He wouldn’t, but an Emanator would.
This would explain why he knows he’s in a game, because Aha knows the exact same when you first encounter them in Simulated Universe.
Option Two? Elio.
This means that he’s a Stellaron Hunter, which I believe is possible. Belebog is the only place that we haven’t encountered a Stellaron Hunter, but what if that isn’t true? What if we did, and we just didn’t know it.
This would also explain why he knows when MC is going to get a new path, as it’s written into his script, and while it doesn’t give an explanation on why he seems to know he isn’t real, it does help explain why a lowly thief - who just so happens to be a follower of Aha - is such a profound fighter, as seen when he saves MC, Dan Heng and March 7th from Bronya.
I can almost guarantee that we’ll see Sampo again, and when we do, we’ll gain a new path to accompany him, but what do you guys think? Is this plausible, or just wishful thinking?

I just think it’s interesting that anytime on reddit or irl when a city that’a majority-minority or maybe relatively impoverished they’re shit on and regarded as having no value.
I just find that interesting how theyre kind of treated as the elephant graveyard or like dark spots on the map.
Like do you guys really think that there’s no benefit to going to a place with great food or some non-standard cultural events might be interesting?
Do you think this might contribute to the perception that there are no POC in the entire region despite there being many thriving communities of color here?
I think it might just be an honest blindspot, but at least irl you can tell there’s a reason that a certain type of person makes a certain type of comment about Holyoke/Springfield/Providence/Hartford/New Haven/WorcesteLowell/Lawrence, etc.
The overall scrabbly appearance of some cities is one thing— but to act as if they should be avoided or as if there’s actual random crime that happens? Sounds like suburban scare tactics straight from fox news to me idk

Title speaks for itself. I was walking through the PATH entrance area when I smelled a strong odor of, well….. sh*t.
I looked across the courtyard to see what appeared to be human excrement strewn across the pavement right outside of the path station. There were multiple piles of sh*t spread out over a pretty large area. It was absolutely disgusting.
Sooo…… did anyone see wtf happened there? Unfortunate accident? Mentally ill person? Honestly just disgusting and unacceptable. Thought I’d be done dealing with this crap (pun intended) moving out of Manhattan.

Context is at the end of this post __________________________________________________
In the stormy northern seas lies the island of Amaria. Under the polar lights in cold forests live the descendants of the once great Varaki, who in turn followed the mammoth herds across the steppes for countless eons. These are the gods and spirits of this land. They live in every tree, every lake, every star, deep below the ocean and beyond the polar lights in four domains.
The underworld, a place of transition between life, death and rebirth. It was made after the creation of the material to help souls find their way back to life. The spirits of this domain all take the shape of dragons with red eyes and golden patterns.

• Räkimarak: Lord of the underworld and of all its riches. Every stone, flint and gems alike, belong to him. A great violet dragon with enormous antlers. He reviews the lives of all that died and guides them to the new lives they deserve. Father of all dragons of the underworld.
• Idaka: Wife of Räkimarak, goddess of love and beauty. She resides at the darkest place, where her light shines the brightest. A violet dragon with a frill and wings of red rose petals with golden patterns. She stands for all encompassing unconditional love and reunites loving souls in their next lives. Mother of all dragons of the underworld.
• Kimorak: Firstborn son of Räkimarak and Idaka, guide of souls who escorts the souls of the dead into the underworld. A great black dragon with golden horns. Every mortal he touches sees and feels their life in great detail from the point of view of those they affected. In the process, mortals always see something they need to see.
• Galorak: Lord of caves and their denizes, bats. A small black dragon with bat ears and a bat nose. Caves are entrances to the underworld and bats are its sacred animals. They are not to be harmed. But since they are also messengers of death, one must keep a safe distance. Don't disturb the bats or Galorak may convince his older brother to take you too soon.
• Letorak: Messenger of the underworld. A small black dragon with golden antlers. Whenever Kimorak takes a soul, they often have something to tell their loved ones. Something they didn't have the time or the courage to say in life. It is Letorak's task to convey these messages through dreams.
• Vhedurak: The white dragon who heals souls between death and rebirth, so they don't take wounds from one life to the next.
• Ohnarak: Craftsman of the underworld. A great yellow dragon who can make anything out of the riches of this realm.
• Vahirak: Builder of the underworld. A great brown dragon with antlers he can use to dig new caves or cover up old ones as needed.
• Voomarak and Vothorak: The great hunters keeping the underworld free of demons preying on scared souls. Two emerald dragon who can turn invisible. The younger brother Voomarak has golden horns and is also the patron of boys and unmarried men. The older brother Vothorak has great golden antlers and is also the patron of married men.
• Mokorak, Kaharak, Roporak and Sukorak: The four golden-headed red dragons guarding the entrances to the underworld. Mokorak has the ears and nose of a bat, Kaharak has four horns, Roporak great antlers and Sukorak the wings and head of a barn owl.
• Tathorak: The great beast, god of violence and bloodshed, the only dragon of this realm who is not a son of Räkimarak and Idaka. A huge gray dragon with three heads, three tails and three pairs of wings. The most powerful beast in the cosmos, but devoid of empathy or understanding. He is imprisoned at the second deepest, darkest point of the underworld, where he guards the only being living even deeper below, the Nameless One.

The boundaries. This is the realm of souls and spirits, dreams and nightmares, the skies and oceans and all waters deep and shallow. This domain has existed before time even began. It is endless and timeless.

• Kavijohka: The moon, a great silver dragon with glowing teal eyes. Sister of Räkimarak and goddess of wisdom, cunning and battle.
• Vellamun: The ocean, husband of Kavijohka, a great blue dragon with red eyes and golden patterns. God of the unknown and lord of all waters. Sometimes, he stretches his hands out to land, creating bogs and swamps.
• Lukilan: The morning star, son of Kavijohka and Vellamun. He is the lightbringer who gives people the power of sight. An azure dragon with emerald eyes and a golden morning star on every scale and a third eye on his forehead.
• Sojulan: The great traveller, son of Kavijohka and Vellamun, a black dragon with red eyes and the neck and wings of a black swan. He travels between the waters, land and air and protects all fellow travelers.
• Turikan: Lord of storms, thunder and lightning. The loudest and most unruly son of Kavijohka and Vellamun. A blue dragon with red eyes and a golden lightning pattern on his scales. His tail is like a hammer, hurling lightning bolts at the ground as he roars.
• Lumika: Goddess of magic, daughter of Kavijohka and Vellamun, a silver dragon with teals eyes and scales shimmering with polar lights. She continues in the footsteps of her mother.
• Ilunika: Goddess of grief, daughter of Kavijohka and Vellamun, a silver dragon with teal eyes and the neck and wings of a black swan. She travels to and from the world of the living and the dead to take the grief of letting go upon her. Whenever she crosses the boundary, she has to go through the ocean and that is where tears comes from. That is why they are salty.
• Avastaja: The great trickster. A shapeshifter, usually appearing with the attributes of a barn owl. Most often as an owl-headed human or a fox/dragon with the head and wings of an owl. The youngest child of Kavijohka and Vellamun who defies all boundaries, uses the powers of all his/her siblings (except for Ilunika, because Avastaja has standards) to protect the jesters and jokers. But he/she is also a scolar and explorer, who uses Lukilan's light to find new ways to mess with people.
• Aiwana: Wife of Avastaja and goddess of memory. A shapeshifter, usually taking the same shape as her husband/wife Avastaja. She paints everything she sees into the skies and caves of Amaria and lives in every single one of the most sacred objects of all Amaria, the fairy memory stones. But Avastaja is rubbing off on her and sometimes, she plays tricks on you.
• The Ashirana: Goddesses of the arts, each of which has its own Ashiran patron. One for painters, wood carvers, musicians and for storytellers.

The world of the living. This is our material world.

• Kadath: The sun, greatest of all dragons with shining golden scales and golden eyes. God of justice who sees all... during the day that is. At night, his sister Kavijohka rules and she has a different idea of justice. Sometimes, she tries to turn the day to night, causing an eclipse. But in the end, Kadath always wins these confrontations. Especially when people light fires and cheer him on.
• Inari: Mother nature, goddess of life and all plants and animals. A great green dragon with wings and a frill made of flowers. She provides all food, but only as long as nature is in balance. Unlike her husband Kadath, Inaro does not care about justice, only balance. Those who anger her are punished mercilessly, no matter how long it takes, sometimes more than they deserve.
• Ilmania: Goddess of healing, firstborn daughter of Kadath and Inari. She was the first fairy, a tall woman with long pointy ears. Her descendant, although far shorter, are still endowed with her healing powers and compassion.
• Vrila: Protector of the home and hearth, patron of married women and the goddess of affectionate familiar love between equals. Secondborn daughter of Kadath and Inari. A woman, always accompanied by a cat and carrying a sling. The weapon of a lady, which requires skill and finesse instead of strong arms and can be more deadly than a bow in the right hands.
• Aria: Protector of girls and unmarried women, goddess of erotic love. A young woman with hair reaching to her ankles. She often reincarnates among mortals for fun. That is why the Amarians do not look down on women looking for fun. They might be dealing with a goddess in disguise.
• Mahaseta: The great white mammoth, goddess of the old world of Varaki. She and Inari together created dogs to protect humanity from dangers of the material and other worlds. All forest elephants and mammoths are her children and as such, sacred. But she was not born a goddess. Mahaseta was born a human. When Avastaja wanted to prove to the others that the material world and humanity are worth preserving, he appeared to Mahaseta in the most terrifying form and ordered her to sacrifice one of her own children to him. But Mahaseta refused. First she begged for the lives of all her children, then she offered her own life instead and when Avastaja refused, she spat in his face. No punishment could be worse than having to murder your own child. With these words, Mahaseta ascended to godhood.
• Retaro: Son of Mahaseta, who became a god by his mother's love. A great white tiger with blue eyes. Guardian of Amaria, lord of the forests and god of the hunt.
• Red Lady and Blue Knight: Also known as the Blue Lady and Red Knight. A pair of lovers who find each other in every new life they are born into. Living as mortals, they are the paragons of loyalty for all Amarians.

Evil. This is not actually a domain, but a state of mind. A very lonely one.

• The Nameless One: God of Evil, who goes by many false names. He lures mortals in with impossible promises to make them do his bidding. The Nameless One orders blood sacrifice and the killing of those who disobey him. He demands to worshiped and praised every day and is jealous of all those gods who receive praise without asking for it. Thus, the Nameless One also seeks to be the only one. No matter the cost to everyone else or even himself.

__________________________________________________
Context: I am currently working on a stone age fantasy novel and I'm sooo close to finishing it, but the last couple chapters are taking longer than expected. It's set on a forested island named Amaria\ at a time when people are making their first steps towards sedentary life and domestication** of plants and animals. Here is the pantheon I worked out for the Amarians.*
You can read my novel for free on Wattpad and Inkitt. I am planning to publish it on Royal Road too. If you know any other platform that might be good for fantasy stories, feel free to tell me.
\Amaria is short for "Amara Aria", which translates to "Gift of the gods/spirits". Aria means gift and Amara is the plural of Amar. The term Amar can not be literally translated into English. It's an umbrella term for all sorts of nature spirits, gods as well as entities one might compare to angels or saints. So it refers to a person with transcendent characteristics and always carries positive connotations.*
\*Dogs have been domesticated by the ancestors of the Amarians for tens of thousands of years already and are central to their culture. It is believed that they have the same souls as humans, so eating a dog would be considered cannibalism. So far the only other note on domestication I have in the books is the pruning of hazelnut trees to get more nuts. That's something I will change in later drafts. Nightshades will be far more important to the civilization emerging on Amaria in the coming millennia.*

hello! we have a large tank and some fish at my office through a local aquatic/aquarium company. about once or twice a month someone comes by and cleans/maintains/fill feeders.
about a month ago our foxface had some redness on his side gill/fin area and on his tail fin. called our company and the tech comes in and administers antibiotics but tells me that he has lost his swim bladder and will be burning energy faster and will need to eat more but no real explanation for the infection.
about a week or so passed and the redness was gone but the foxface is looking thinner than ever and appears to constantly be looking for food. i'm putting cubes in 3 times a day now along with some extra pellets from the feeder but absolutely nothing seems to be helping. I feel like I can see all of his organs and a line running the length of his body. (i'll try for a good photo to post in the replies, he moves a lot). the redness has also returned as of today.
the tech is saying he's "not quite hospice yet" but it's not looking good and to take him out of the tank to have him looked at will just most likely be the end of him. this is unacceptable to me because I have grown quite attached to my office fish and their personalities and if this fish DIES I will lose it. I want to do anything I can to prolong his life, for him to live healthily. does anyone have any suggestions to get this foxface fattened up and fattened up QUICK? something else I can do? I don't have enough faith in our automatic feeders to keep him alive over the 3 day weekend coming up and i'm just really sad and kind of just grasping at straws. any help is appreciated.

Uni finishes tomorrow! I'm so happy, I can finally focus on stuff that actually matters to me!
I wanna decorate my room more because even though it's deocrated now, I wanna cover the blank parts of my walls with stuff that reflects me as a person! I love expressing myself through fashion and my bedroom so this'll be a fun activity for me.
I am going to be doing 10k steps everyday, and also sort out my sleep schedule so I become the morning person I was for a short period of time. I think health-related goals are really important at my age. I wanna start eating better too, I'm gonna learn how to cook meat because meat = lots of nutrients and I really need that haha. I wanna start eating better overall so I can have a flat stomach and because it's good to be healthy, obviously.
I'll also be able to work more shifts at my job so I'll have more money to buy things and also go out. I won't go completely crazy with my money though, because I need to pay off my braces and also pay for my driving lessons. I aim to get my driving licence this summer, I'm so excited! I'll be saving for a car, too, though I'm not sure when I'll actually buy it since I'll still be in uni next year so I might wait until I've graduated? Idk.
I wanna perfect my makeup. I wear minimal makeup but I lack in technique so that's something I want to work on. I want to start looking more put together. But that doesn't mean i'll abandon my alt fashion, I just think it's important to have a bit of both (normalcy and alternativeness).
Since I wanna invest in my appearance I'm gonna be saving up money for designer clothes like Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. I love the old/new money aesthetic lol.
I've got a couple of books on my bookshelf I've not read, classics like Great Expectations and Frankenstein which I want to read this summer. I've got Shakespeare plays too which I wanna analyse.
I might try out screenwriting and just writing in general.
Those are my plans for the summer! What are yours?

So I thought I’d leave my review since it’s summer and I’m sure others are wondering what to try. I live in Michigan and the summers here are pretty humid. I know the cooling vests/accessories are not generally recommended for humid weather so I thought I’d first try the accessory items before the vest and see how it goes.
Items:
https://canadapooch.com/collections/dog-cooling/products/wet-reveal-dog-cooling-bandana-scarf?variant=39961894158421
https://ruffwear.com/products/swamp-cooler-neck-gaiter
I personally like the Ruffwear cooling neck gaiter more.
The one cool feature I liked about the Canada pooch bandana was that they had an option to buy a kind that changes from being a solid color when dry, to happy faces appearing when wet. This is a nice feature so you know when the bandana needs to be resoaked or just taken off if it’s dry and there’s no more water.
Only issue is, i think i ordered a size too large. I ordered a medium for my Maltese mix dog who is 20 pounds. Should have stuck with a small. No matter how much i tied it, it fell off. I think it was too long for my dog so it bothered him when he walked. But I’m not even bothering to exchange it and the reason for that is, i don’t think a size small would have been useful anyway. Even if it stuck on to him, i don’t like the concept of the bandana as much as the gaiter. It doesn’t stick around him/his neck or chest enough to make a difference anyway. What’s nice about the Ruffwear gaiter is that it wraps around his neck so it stays in place against his skin and isn’t hanging out like a bandana typically does. If i wanted to cover the chest and back area that’s where a harness would come in handy. Neck gaiter i purchased in a size x-small by the way. Fits perfect. Their sizing runs differently since it’s a gaiter, not a bandana, so there’s more size options.
Now the neck gaiter i think made an actual difference. Yesterday when i took my dog out in 82-85 degree weather, he wanted to go back inside within 5 minutes and ran for his life for water, understandably so. Today i put on the Ruffwear neck gaiter for the first time and he was able to have a typical 15-20 minute quick walk around our condo complex. He was way more relaxed coming back compared to yesterday’s walk. And both days have been just as humid/sunny at around the same time both days.
Now don’t get me wrong, i don’t think this gaiter would have been as useful in humid weather for long walks/walking long trails. Unless you had a ton of water to constantly re-soak the gaiter with, but that sounds too heavy to carry on such long walks. In dry heat I’m sure it’s more manageable.
But this helped me decide to just go ahead and get my dog a cooling harness. I would be using it for shorter walks so I’m not worried about it drying up and making him hotter in the humidity. I don’t give my dog long walks if it’s that hot outside anyways, not worth risking it. He’s sensitive to heat as most dogs are.
Hope this helped anyone who’s going back and forth about the humidity issue with cooling wear. As a bonus review, i got my dog one of the cooling toys from Canada pooch, specifically the dolphin. I believe there’s 4 different animal cooling toys. He’s obsessed with it and i haven’t even soaked it yet lol!!!
I didn’t bother with the hat because i know he will get it off. Same with pavement boots. He would never allow me to get those on. I just avoid walks on pavement if it’s that hot. Luckily for me it’s easy to avoid since grass is right by my garage and door.
I’m not interested in cooling vests since my dog is always leashed when outside (unless at dog park but still needs a harness between going in and out of park and car. He’s a puller so can’t use leash with his collar.
I see that both Ruffwear and Canada pooch have a cooling harness but i think I’m gonna go with Ruffwear just because i know their material on the neck gaiter worked on my dog. That doesn’t mean Canada pooch material wouldn’t work, but i wasn’t able to test it out since the bandana design is flawed in my opinion. I’ll edit my review of the Ruffwear cooling harness once i have it. Hopefully it’s just as affective as their neck gaiter was for short walks.
TLDR: get the Ruffwear cooling neck gaiter over the Canada pooch cooling bandana in my opinion. Neck gaiter is a better design over a bandana. These items work fine in humid heat as long as it’s for short walks. Haven’t and wouldn’t try for long walks. I avoid long walks in high heat anyways, especially since it’s humid by me. Will try Ruffwear cooling harness next for the same purposes and edit this post with my review!

Parent teacher conference today. She asks if we're planning to continue masking next year. Talks about how she bought so many masks at the beginning of the pandemic, that she is very pro-mask (she doesn't mask). Talks about how wonderful it was when the children could take off their masks and they could see each other's faces. About how it is fine, totally fine, that our child masks but it probably is hindering his socialization.
All I can say is that we're frustrated and had hoped the circumstances would be better by now, and that yes, she's right that it comes at a cost and we're well aware. She says she respects our decision. Mentions that kid is anxious about getting his back mask on when he has to take it off, and then acknowledges well, he does have a reason to be concerned... Some part of her seems to understand but I feel like she is thinking about our "comfort level" and not our logic. I feel like she has some discomfort in appearing anti-mask or anti-science - she's smart and I think some part of her knows this current state is not right.
I almost wish she'd just be rude about it than try to be kind and "tolerant." It's not about my comfort. I'm very uncomfortable sending my kids to school in masks. I'm uncomfortable being the only person masked. I know the social cost. I just don't know what else I'm supposed to do when everyone is going to get infected over and over again with something potentially disabling. Sometimes I really do envy people who can ignore what's happening.

So for so long I had this crush on a younger girl at the gym. Cute, long hair, green eyes, amazing body, and a real beast :D at the gym. I see her socializing with everyone all the time, and even though she has what a friend calls a "resting bitch face" and a strong stare, she seems like a nice person. I wonder when my time will come to talk to her, but I'm in my forties and she's in her early twenties, so I dismiss the thought.
I notice her looking at me so many times, but don't know what to make of it, especially with the age gap. One day, as I mindlessly scroll through TikTok I see a video of her! She's doing some light fitness content and clearly in her social media phase. This gives me a real opportunity to look at her TikTok and also Instagram. We had a few casual run-ins at the gym, but nothing more than wanting to use the same machine, although I noticed her being receptive to talk. Or maybe she's just being the social butterfly that she is.
Fast forward a few months later, she appears beside me with a big smile and a wave. She asks how many sets I have left, and I just ask her to work in. She gladly accepts. I casually tell her that I came across her TikTok and we have a discussion about it, where she mentions that she's doing more Instagram now. Next thing she asks me for my Instagram and says she'll give me a follow! Needless to say I gave it to her, trying not to drop my jaw too low. We continue chatting for a bit, then she goes on her way, leaving me both surprised and happy.
Now thinking about the next time I see her..

hello! we have a large tank and some fish at my office through a local aquatic/aquarium company. about once or twice a month someone comes by and cleans/maintains/fill feeders.
about a month ago our foxface had some redness on his side gill/fin area and on his tail fin. called our company and the tech comes in and administers antibiotics but tells me that he has lost his swim bladder and will be burning energy faster and will need to eat more but no real explanation for the infection.
about a week or so passed and the redness was gone but the foxface is looking thinner than ever and appears to constantly be looking for food. i'm putting cubes in 3 times a day now along with some extra pellets from the feeder but absolutely nothing seems to be helping. I feel like I can see all of his organs and a line running the length of his body. (i'll try for a good photo to post in the replies, he moves a lot). the redness has also returned as of today.
the tech is saying he's "not quite hospice yet" but it's not looking good and to take him out of the tank to have him looked at will just most likely be the end of him. this is unacceptable to me because I have grown quite attached to my office fish and their personalities and if this fish DIES I will lose it. I want to do anything I can to prolong his life, for him to live healthily. does anyone have any suggestions to get this foxface fattened up and fattened up QUICK? something else I can do? I don't have enough faith in our automatic feeders to keep him alive over the 3 day weekend coming up and i'm just really sad and kind of just grasping at straws. any help is appreciated.

That will be a long post, I hope you can accompany me until the end, I will give you a little context and I will start with my story. I 24 (F) I clarify that I am a trans girl, my ex 27 (M) heterosexual cisgender had never had a trans girlfriend. We met through a social network. We realized that we lived nearby and decided to go out to eat, before seeing each other in person I made it clear to him that I was a trans girl, which took him by surprise, it was something that he was not expected, but he still said that he felt something inside his being that told him that there was no problem. two weeks after seeing us for the first time he asked me to become his girlfriend to which I agreed because he is an excellent human being with very good values, good ethics and morals and definitely men like him difficult to find today. the relationship flowed and at about three months, he decides to leave me. He had a lot of things in his head. He was waiting for a new job, struggling with insecurities and I know that the fact that I was trans somehow took away his sleep and I didn't know how he was going to handle it with his traditional family. he lied telling me a story saying that he had to go to Las Vegas for work, for a year and a half and that he could not continue with a long-distance relationship, at the passage of the hours he confesses to me that it was a lie that he was not gonna leave. At this point deep inside me, I had already left him, I had cried and I had suffered the grief and even though I agreed to continue trying something in m broke from that first time he left me, with the passage of time, I realized that there were things that did not convince me at all his physical appearance, his personal hygiene, his height, his neediness, his way of being so closed in certain things, they made me quite angry, we talked about it, he told me that he was going to change, but I only saw changes for a certain time and then he did the same again 6 months after being in a relationship I decided to finish things this time on my own and within hours, he came regretful, telling me that everything was going to be fine that everything was going to work. After that I began to feel a little uncomfortable, but I decided to move on because he had given me a promise ring when he asked me to be his girl, since his dream was to see me dressed in white. we made many plans for the future, we planned to have a family. A month ago He managed to get that job that he was waiting for so long, everything was slowly taking form and in order to accomplish the plans we had he needed that very good job. I was able to meet his mom, he never told her that I was a trans girl and his mom didn't realize it and he kept hiding it until certain point, I got along very well with her. Everything went well and the date to meet his dad, brothers and his sister-in-law was near and I began having doubts in me. I really wanted to stay with him and meet his whole family but It would seem like an act of bad taste if a few months after i decided to end up things. Then I tried to postpone things and not meet them. when spending time with him when sleeping together when kissing, I already felt different. I felt that something was off. I felt that something had broken since that first time, we broke up, but maybe I hadn't wanted to accept it. It hurt me a lot to think that all our plans, the great work he just got, the big salary, was finally coming true, everything we waited for almost a year. I just wasn't feeling it anymore, I talked to him and told him that I no longer felt the same as he deserved someone who could give him the same thing he expected since he was settling for the little I gave him of my person, he said that this was love and that it was worth fighting and that it didn't matter how long he had to wait that it was going to be worth it. Two weeks ago, I decided to leave him and coincidentally a best friend invited me on vacation with his family. I had time to think about things and I realized that maybe I'm too young to get married. Although I feel ready, were simply mixed feelings and I didn't know what to do, when I returned last weekend we saw each other we talked and I told him that it was time to heal both for him and for me that we could not continue living a half-love because he gave everything for me, but I didn’t. I decided to put an end to our story, he told me that he would never understand why I did it if he tried so hard that if this was actually love because why I did not continue fighting, but there was simply something inside me that It made me feel that I should no longer continue and it hurts me because he is an excellent man, he will be an excellent husband, an excellent father, an excellent provider has all the qualities that any girl would die to find a man, but I simply do not know if I am getting carried away and I will regret it in the future, but I simply no longer feel this relationship. I would like you to share your opinion with me. I feel that in the future, a part of me may regret it, but for now I feel that it is the best thing for both of us to take different paths and take care of healing and doing things. Better. Maybe in our next relationship. Thank you for reading me so far, I told you it would be long. If you have any questions, leave it at the comments and I will answer since I can't put all the details here because it would be too much. Thank you. Kisses. Melina.
TL;DR I need advice if I should fight for a man that is worth it but I don’t longer feel the relationship and am not sure to continue even though I might regret it since he’s an excellent men.

We've had a great experience with Cambridge Friends School. I would recommend CFS to anyone whose child would be a good fit for a relaxed environment that focuses on social justice, consideration for others, and working toward personal goals. Children can work on their strengths, yet receive support in areas where they may struggle. Teachers are quick to identify when a student is having difficulty, and also give praise when a student does something laudable that might not be considered "school work"--helping a classmate, offering a helpful comment, or making a suggestion for class rules.
The school embodies its mission and its message. The focus on peace and community is evident every day. The school is housed in an older building, but it's a cheerful building with the decorations on the wall and the big grins on so many students, staff members, and parents alike. It's not at all a flashy place, but that's in keeping with Simplicity: don't emphasize material stuff.
The staff are welcoming, warm, and helpful. Social gatherings with families are relaxed and fun, and it's easy to jump into meaningful conversations.
The acting head of school is cheerful, hard working, and engaged. She's easy to talk to, and she has deep ties to the school. Whether or not the school board offers her the position as "full" head of school rather than "acting," I hope she stays for years to come. If she is offered the position, and if it makes sense for her, then I hope she accepts.
Independent schools around Boston have different personalities, and generally you get a sense of that personality in one visit. Some schools feel more formal, and for some families and students that may be great. Other schools have huge campuses, with whole buildings dedicated to STEM, theater, art, or sports. Yet other schools pack a lot into a very small space. Cambridge Friends feels the same to me as it did the first time we stepped inside. I breathe easy when I'm there.
Before we joined Cambridge Friends we'd heard so many good things about Cambridge Friends from our friends, from neighbors, and even from one of our doctors. We're happy to be part of the community, and hope others take the chance to look into it.
I wrote this post partly because an older, negative post about the school caught some attention. That post was misleading, and arguably libelous.
As a member of the local community, and in the spirit of being a good neighbor, I'd suggest that the creator of that post seek help from a mental health professional. The misrepresentations and conspiratorial writing of the post suggest to me that, at the time the post was written, the author may have been going through a difficult time. The account was suspended [by moderators]--not deleted, as the author implied would happen. Comments written in a similarly harsh, negative tone appear to have been written by the original poster using a sock puppet account.* The second account was created only after the original post, and the only comments from that second account were replies in that one post, and nowhere else.
Rather than address every point in that post, as I'd originally planned to do, it was (I hope!) more helpful to create a positive post about a school that is important to us.
(*My account name is intended as a joke, and the account predates this discussion by a year.)